


An International Incident of Epic Proportion

by Khashana



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe – Canon Divergence, Arranged Marriage, F/F, Feminist Suki, Fluff, Homoerotic sword fights, Internalized Misogyny, M/M, Suki is the real MVP, and tender, bisexual awakening, katara/waterbending, this is extremely gay, with appearances by Hakoda Arnook and Iroh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:34:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28299042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Khashana/pseuds/Khashana
Summary: Princess Yue is engaged to Prince Zuko, and Sokka and Suki are invited to the celebration.None of them expected to fall in love.
Relationships: Sokka & Suki (Avatar), Sokka & Yue (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), Suki/Yue (Avatar), Yue & Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 17
Kudos: 100





	An International Incident of Epic Proportion

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 2020 ATLA Secret Santa for yearning-hours on tumblr (if you have an ao3 shoot me a message and I'll mark it as a gift). This BASTARD of a fic went almost a week overdue and is literally close to six times longer than I needed it to be. Literally I had 2K words by the time it was due but the fic did not want to be any shorter.
> 
> In my defense I don’t know how you’re supposed to write people falling in love _quickly_.
> 
> I’m happy with it, though, I think it’s one of the better things I’ve written lately and I hope you like it!
> 
> Thank you to the Zukka 18+ Chaos Server for all of the help brainstorming, especially agni_kai for like…everything that happens during the festival. I just provided the words for that one. Also thank you to everyone who sprinted with me as I tried to bang this thing out on time. And SPECIAL thanks to TheKingOfSorrow for a thorough beta even though I gave her very little time! I mean literally we're talking finishing up at 5:45 PM on Christmas Eve.
> 
> There is almost an entire scene lifted off the show. But it really worked for what I was doing. So thanks to Bryke, I guess, for a useful plotline.
> 
> In my head Zuko still has his scar, though the circumstances of acquiring it are slightly different, so if it bothers you that it never comes up, just imagine Sokka already knew what the prince of the Fire Nation looked like and didn’t feel the need to dwell on it.

“Sokka! Katara!” called Hakoda. “I have news.” Once they were standing attentively before him, he brandished a message scroll. “Princess Yue is getting married.”

“What?” yelped Sokka. “To who?”

“One of the princes of the Fire Nation.”

“Oh, wow,” said Katara, eyes wide. “That’s got to be a big deal.”

“It is. It’s only been ten years since the end of the war. I know that’s most of a lifetime for you two, but it seems like yesterday to us old folks. It’s really only now everything’s settled down enough for them to even think about a political match, and it’s a major step toward getting the rest of the world to believe they want lasting peace.”

“So why’d they write to us about it? Just to share the good news?” asked Sokka.

“No. In honor of the event, they’re inviting delegations from the four nations for the ceremonial meeting of the betrothed. And then of course the wedding. I think we’ll be staying until then, this says it’s only six weeks afterwards.” He waved the scroll. “We leave in three weeks.”

The cry of the man in the crow’s nest made them both jump up and run to the edge of the boat. Just barely visible in the distance, the Northern Water Tribe might have been a large iceberg, but as they drew closer, it resolved into a shimmering city.

“Oh, _wow,_ ” breathed Katara. “It’s gorgeous.”

Sokka thought so too, but loyalty to his own tribe plus the fact that he’d seen it before—and that Katara was his baby sister and so he couldn’t get excited about the same things she did—made him shrug nonchalantly.

Chief Arnook was waiting to greet them with a small party when they docked.

“Greetings, Chief Hakoda!” he said warmly as they stepped off, reaching out to clasp Hakoda’s forearm.

“And you, Chief Arnook,” returned Hakoda. “You remember my wife, Kya? And my children, Sokka and Katara?”

“Of course.”

“And you’ve also met council members Bato and Zarmoq. May I present the newest council members Tarmor and Kiroka.”

“Lovely, lovely.” Arnook shook hands all round. “You’ll remember my wife, Ranada, and my daughter, Yue…”

Sokka tuned out the introduction of the North council as Yue hugged him.

“It’s so good to see you!” she whispered.

“You too.” Sokka squeezed her tightly and spat out a mouthful of black hair. Irritating as it was making the trek up here, frustrating as the formalities and the entire concept of the betrothal celebration were, he couldn’t be sorry to see her.

“And this is Avatar Aang,” said Chief Arnook, and Sokka almost put a crick in his neck whirling around.

“Pleasure to meet you!” said Avatar Aang, shaking hands with Hakoda and the council members, then walking over to greet the kids. He was tall, maybe twenty-five, and bald with a beard. Easily the most conspicuous thing about him was that he was wearing yellow and orange robes with no anorak, but he didn’t seem cold at all.

Over the next couple of days, the Earth delegations arrived: first King Kuei of Ba Sing Se, and then King Bumi from Omashu, each with an entourage. Every time they had to go through introductions again, and it grated on Sokka’s nerves more and more each time. But then Queen Gyore of Kyoshi Island showed up, and all his attention was back.

“Stop dancing, Sokka, you look like you have to pee,” said Katara crossly. Sokka spared a moment to glare at her, and then resumed craning his neck, trying to make out facial features underneath the Kyoshi Warrior makeup.

“These are my Kyoshi Warriors,” said Queen Gyore, shaking Arnook’s hand. “Suki—” Sokka didn’t hear any of the rest, too busy making a high-pitched noise with the effort of staying in place. Katara smacked him.

As soon as the attention was off her, Suki walked over, and Sokka flung his arms around her.

“Sokka!” she cried happily. “How are you?”

“I’m good! I’m so good. How are you? How’s Kyoshi Island?”

“No complaints. Hi, Katara. Hi, Princess Yue. Nice to meet you.”

“You’re Suki?” Yue reached out to clasp Suki’s hand in both of hers.

“That’s me!” Suki said cheerfully.

“Well then, the pleasure is mine.”

Finally, they were able to get away from the grown-ups. Most of the Kyoshi Warriors went to get unpacked in their guest quarters, but Sokka dragged Suki along after Yue, determined to introduce his friends. They indulged him, and curled up in the library to talk.

“So, tell me how you met,” said Yue, folding her hands gracefully in her lap.

“I’m from Kyoshi Island,” started Suki.

“I met her on a diplomatic mission to the Earth Kingdom,” continued Sokka.

“’Diplomatic mission.’ You make it sound like you were the diplomat. His dad dragged him along because the Chief needs to have some experience of the world beyond the tribe.”

“I’m familiar,” nodded Yue. “It’s the same way he met _me._ ”

“He ran into me and my warriors, thought he’d pit his fighting skills against mine. I kicked his butt, and we’ve been friends ever since.”

“Oh?” Yue looked at Sokka, like she expected him to argue, but he just nodded.

“That’s accurate.”

Yue did not quite cover an unladylike snort.

The Fire Nation delegation arrived the next day in a metal ship, making ash rain down upon the city and alerting everyone a good half hour in advance of their arrival. A couple of guards in Fire Nation armor descended the gangplank first, followed by a grey-haired man in fancy regalia and a flame crown, in turn followed closely by a small cluster of dark-haired people in similar, less-fancy regalia.

“Fire Lord Iroh,” greeted Arnook. “It’s good to see you.” They went through the whole farce of introductions yet again, and Sokka learned that the Fire Lord had brought along his son, his sister-in-law, and his niece, plus of course the nephew who was marrying Yue.

“I was a little worried I was leaving no one behind to rule the nation!” Iroh joked good-naturedly. “But I could hardly send my nephew out here without his family behind him.”

Prince Zuko stepped forward at the urging of his uncle and mother and met Yue in the center. She bowed in the Water style and offered a hand. Zuko took it and bowed low.

“Princess Yue,” he said quietly. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Likewise, Prince Zuko,” said Yue.

“Please accept this token of my commitment,” said Zuko, and pulled a necklace from the depths of his robes. Yue inclined her head, and let him put it around her neck.

“I accept it with a full heart. Allow me to present my home.”

It was ceremonial wording, but Yue managed to make it sound like she legitimately wanted to show Zuko the palace. She took his hand again, and they led the way back indoors, the rest of the parties trailing after.

Once inside, servants came rushing up to escort the Fire Nation guests to their quarters, and Sokka, Suki, Yue, and Katara were left alone again.

“Wait, was that it?” asked Sokka, staring after the departed delegation. “You’ve met the prince, you got the necklace, and that’s what we were here for, right?” Yue waved a hand and made an ‘ehh’ noise.

“That’s the ceremonial part, the part you were invited for specifically. There will be parties, a festival, that kind of thing, and then we have a couple of weeks to get to know each other before the wedding.”

“I think some people are going home for that part?” said Suki.

“Yes, a lot of them. I imagine none of you are. It would take too long to get here to be worth the trouble of making the journey four times in two months.”

“Yep,” said Sokka. “We’re here for the duration.”

“Perhaps you can act as our chaperones.”

Suki made a questioning noise.

“Prince Zuko and I aren’t allowed to be alone together until our wedding night,” Yue explained. “But it will be much more bearable if our chaperones are you three instead of my father’s advisors and probably Prince Zuko’s guards.”

“Ugh, yeah, that does sound awkward,” said Suki. “I’m down.”

“Yeah, sure,” said Sokka. “Not like I had big plans that _didn’t_ involve hanging out with you.”

“Um, I do, actually?” said Katara, biting her lip. “I’m sorry, Yue, but I had planned to use the time to study with your waterbending masters. “

“Oh, you should! Yugoda is excellent.”

“I think me and Suki have it covered,” said Sokka confidently.

Chief Arnook agreed to allow Sokka and Suki to chaperone Zuko and Yue--respectively, because apparently otherwise it wouldn’t be proper. The prince stayed in his room for most of the next day, so Sokka didn’t really get to meet his charge until dinner.

It was a grand affair. Sokka felt a little underdressed, but he wasn’t a prince even if he technically held the equivalent rank, so he didn’t have anything fancier than his nicest anorak. At least Suki was just wearing normal Kyoshi Warrior armor and makeup plus a coat. It made up a little for Yue’s fancy headpiece, and Zuko’s rich red and gold robes and cloak and the little gold thing in his hair.

Only a little, because Sokka had to look past both of them to see her.

Theoretically, this dinner was for Zuko and Yue to get acquainted. But Yue was too polite to start a conversation, and Zuko was apparently either too shy or too awkward or just didn’t think he was supposed to talk. Sokka gave him the benefit of the doubt of assuming he wasn’t just that uninterested in Yue, which he thought was very magnanimous of himself. He lasted for about ten minutes of—not silence, because everyone around them was talking and dishes were clattering—but _boredom_ , because on his other side sat one of the Fire Ministers who was eagerly engaged in a conversation about wheat tariffs. _Ugh._

“So, Prince Zuko, what do you do for fun?” he asked, giving himself a mental high-five for both waiting until he was done chewing and remembering to use his title.

“Hm?” Zuko looked startled to be addressed. “Oh. Uh. I swordbend?”

“…You what?”

Zuko flushed and looked down at his plate. “I swordfight. And firebend. Those weren’t supposed to be the same word.” It trailed off into a mutter that became almost inaudible. Sokka was _delighted._ Awkward and shy it was.

“Yeah? I’d love to learn to use a sword.”

“Yeah?”

“I can use a spear and a boomerang pretty well. Can’t be that different a skillset.”

“A boomerang?”

“Yeah. You know.” Sokka mimed tossing a boomerang. Zuko looked nonplussed. “Bounces off things? Good for hunting things you can’t get too close to.” Zuko still looked confused. “I’ll show you sometime,” Sokka promised.

They lapsed into quiet for a few moments before Zuko ventured a hushed, “I could show you some sword basics. If you want.”

“You got yourself a deal!” Sokka elbowed him gently and grinned.

Yue sighed quietly and resigned herself to sitting in silence. She had been hoping Zuko would get over his shyness and actually say something, but now he was talking to _Sokka_ instead.

A gentle elbow nudged her arm, and she looked up.

“Hey.” Suki smiled. Yue felt her cheeks heat. She hadn’t had a girl friend her age in a number of years. Princesses were only allowed to play with the servants when they were little girls. But as she’d grown older, the things she’d had in common with the other girls seemed to matter less and less.

“Tell me, what is _up_ with the minister from Omashu? He looks like he swallowed a fish whole.”

Yue almost choked on her food in an uncontrollable burst of laughter. “He _does_ ,” she managed when she had her breath back. “That’s exactly it. It’s the same look my mother had when I was little and I came in covered in dirt.” Suki placed a hand over her mouth, eyes dancing.

“I can’t imagine you covered in dirt! You’re so…” She gestured. “Put together.”

“I’m representing my nation,” Yue reminded her. “Then I was a child.”

“Yeah, but still. Look at Sokka. He’s cleaned up all right, but you can totally imagine him covered in dirt, can’t you? It’s the vibe.”

Yue conceded with a nod.

They chatted until it was time to retire for the night, and even then Suki walked her back to her room so they could keep talking. They finally reached the door, and Yue went in. Suki scratched the back of her head sheepishly.

“I guess I should let you sleep, huh?” she asked. There was a note of self-consciousness in her voice, and that just wouldn’t do.

“I’ve loved talking to you,” Yue assured her, grabbing one of Suki’s hands and feeling inexplicably lighter than she had since the marriage was arranged. “But yes, I do need to retire. I will see you tomorrow.”

“I’ll be here!” said Suki, grinning.

As promised, she came to pick Yue up after breakfast. Yue had chosen a slightly less formal outfit for the festival, but Suki was wearing basically the same thing she had been every other time Yue had seen her—Kyoshi Warrior armor and makeup, with an anorak overtop.

“Why the makeup?” she asked as they walked.

“This is how Avatar Kyoshi dressed,” explained Suki. “It’s essentially war paint. White is for treachery, a sinister nature, suspicion of others and the willingness to visit evil deeds upon them, and red is for honor, loyalty, heroism, and trust. And it scares people.”

“It’s very striking.”

“She was six feet tall; between that and the face paint, she never had any trouble getting people to pay attention to her.”

“She sounds like a very interesting person.”

“Oh, she was! Even though she could wield all the elements, she wanted nonbenders to be able to defend themselves just as well, and she amassed a whole band of them and taught them how to use other people’s force against them. And we’ve been nonbenders ever since.”

They came to the palace front door, where Sokka and Zuko were waiting.

“Princess Yue,” said Zuko, inclining his head. “Miss Suki.”

“Prince Zuko,” returned Yue. “Hello, Sokka.”

“You two are going to be _married_ , I think you can drop the titles,” said Sokka.

The courtyard was full of people. The entire tribe appeared to be crammed into the space, chattering excitedly. A wooden platform had been erected at the end furthest from them to serve as a stage, upon which stood her father, Fire Lord Iroh, and several servants.

The servants caught sight of them exiting the palace, and one of them rang a large gong. The chatter ceased, people turning toward them expectantly and parting to form a path.

“My people,” said Yue’s father, loud enough to be heard all the way across the courtyard, “I am delighted to present to you your future chief and her fiancé.” He spread his hands in welcome. “Princess Yue of the Northern Water Tribe, and Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation!”

The crowd cheered. Zuko and Yue walked slowly down the path made for them, Sokka and Suki falling respectfully behind. The walking was slow going; people pressed ice poppies into their hands, reached out to touch their clothing, and stopped them to murmur words of congratulations and adoration. Several women held out babies, and Yue kissed her first two fingers and pressed them to each baby’s forehead, to the fervent thanks of the mothers. When they finally reached the stage, they climbed up onto it.

One of the servants proffered a torch as Arnook said, “Prince Zuko, would you do the honors?”

Zuko looked around at the unlit torches ringing the courtyard and said, “Can I do them all?”

“…If you wish,” said Arnook, blinking curiously. Zuko jumped back off the stage and ran back down the path a little ways. He bent streaks of fire over the heads of the crowd, lighting up each torch. He started with the furthest away and walked backwards as he lit the closer torches, until he reached the stage again, every standing torch lit within seconds. He vaulted back onto the stage and cupped his hands around the original torch to light it more ceremonially.

 _“Wow,_ ” hissed Sokka from behind them. Yue had to agree. It was a stunning display. Ordinarily, the torchbearers would light the surrounding torches from the original, symbolizing the light being spread from the royal couple, but this was…rather more literal. The torchbearer planted the original torch directly in front of the stage, and more servants hustled in chairs for Yue and Zuko to sit behind it and stay at least somewhat warm.

Avatar Aang approached them first, bowing respectfully. “On behalf of the Air Nomads, a sky bison-fur blanket, to keep you warm on cold nights,” he said, placing the blanket on the stage. “And a traditional pipe, to remind you to take time out for the small joys even under the pressure of responsibility for your nation.” Yue fought back sudden tears to realize all over again how alone Aang was in the world, and how significant and earnest his words were.

The leaders of the other nations approached one by one. Each of them had a small group of servants to carry gifts, four or five from each monarch, but they had all been preemptively upstaged by Aang, and Yue found her mind wandering even as her mouth gave the appropriate thanks.

When the parade of gifts was done with, her father announced the evening’s entertainment, and invited the guests to stay and watch or partake in the games and shop at the stalls on the lower tiers. More chairs were set up, and they vacated the stage to sit and watch as performing waterbenders prepared to put on a show.

“You wanna get out of here?” Sokka whispered from behind her and Zuko after the first waterbender was finished. “I wanna see what they’ve got going on outside.”

“We have to stay and watch,” Yue explained in an undertone. “You and Suki are welcome to, though.” They were bracketed between her father and Fire Lord Iroh, which was more than sufficient chaperoning.

“Oh, come on, you gotta!” said Sokka. Yue looked at her father, and then gave Sokka a pointed look, intending to communicate _exactly how do you expect me to sneak away, I’m sitting in the front row right next to my father._

Suki tugged him away before he could cause any more of a disturbance, but they were both back within twenty minutes to shove fire flakes and seaweed cookies into Zuko and Yue’s hands before sneaking off again. Yue felt a pang of affection. They were such good friends.

“Better?” asked Suki, grinning as they walked more sedately back down the steps to the stalls.

“Yeah.” Sokka returned it. “At least they get to have some terrible fair food, even if they are missing out on the rest of it.”

They perused the stalls. There were merchants from every nation, except for the Air Nomads. Kiroka and Zarmoq were missing the entertainment for the sake of manning a table filled with items various Tribe members had sent with them. The Fire Nation had brought a handful, and of course every major Earth city had brought at least one.

“Maybe the Avatar’s next job should be to make the Earth Kingdom stop acting like they’re actually _three to six_ Earth Kingdoms,” said Sokka, thinking of the parade of rulers at the presentation of the gifts. To be fair, he had been mostly focused on Zuko, who was lit in the right kind of light and set at the perfect angle for Sokka to draw him, if he had only had paper. The firelight had looked so good against the gold of his robes, and Sokka _was_ an artist, at heart.

“See anything Yue would buy, if she was here?” Suki asked. “Cause she can definitely pay us back.”

“Yue likes pretty things,” said Sokka absently, poking through Kiroka’s things. Tribe loyalty demanded he buy something from his own table, even though he could easily have got it for trade at home.

Trouble was, anything he could have gotten at home, he already had and didn’t particularly want more of. They had brought mostly practical things, not ornamental, so nothing sparked inspiration regarding Yue either. Zuko, though…He turned a finely crafted dagger over in his hands.

“C’mon, I want to see what Ba Sing Se brought,” said Suki, so Sokka handed over the coin for the dagger and packed it away for safekeeping.

Suki found an elaborate hair comb from the Earth Kingdom merchants for Yue, and Sokka slowly filled his own bag with knickknacks, clothes for when he was in the warm parts of the world, and candy for later.

“Some of the merchants will probably still be here after it officially ends, right?” asked Suki.

“We’ll be here until the people aren’t, love,” said the old woman manning the stall they were standing at. “Those of us whose old joints don’t seize up out in the cold, that is.”

“Maybe we could sneak Zuko and Yue out?” suggested Suki.

“You think?”

“If you bring the Prince and Princess to my stall, I’ll stay even if my joints _do_ seize up,” said the old woman.

So it was settled. They rejoined the party for the midday meal, then met up with Katara and tried their hands at some festival games in the afternoon. Suki won a top, which fell over after spinning a few times when she tried it. They all tried out the test of strength. And after the performances, they escorted the prince and princess back to their individual quarters. Sokka tried not to vibrate out of his boots as he walked Zuko to his door and followed him inside.

“Uh. Hello?” said Zuko.

“You wanna sneak out and see the festival?”

“How? There’s a guard posted outside my door.”

“You’re a firebender, you know.”

In ten minutes he was outside the outer wall of Zuko’s room, waiting as Zuko carefully melted a hole in it. Zuko, the goofball, had left a note, just in case someone came in to look for him and worried about him.

“Look, if they’re in my room, I’m found out one way or the other,” he tried to explain to Sokka, who tried and failed not to find it adorable. “This way at least they know I snuck out, and I’m not kidnapped.”

“Does that happen on a regular basis?” asked Suki with mild interest, having appeared around a corner with Yue.

“Kidnapping attempts? Uh. Not a _regular_ basis _._ ”

They couldn’t melt Yue’s walls; as the princess, she had better security against water- or firebenders and her quarters were in the middle of the palace. However, because of all the surrounding activity, her guards could be distracted enough not to notice her sneaking out, which Suki had done.

Sneaking back _in_ might be interesting.

Oh well.

Both of them were wearing plain anoraks with the hoods pulled up and their hair ornaments removed. The blue did something very interesting for Zuko’s complexion.

“So what did you make of the ceremony?” Suki asked Zuko. “I thought it was pretty, but very long.”

“A little long,” said Zuko diplomatically.

“I spent the whole time thinking about Avatar Aang, talking about the weight of a nation and how you have to take time to have fun even when everyone is counting on you,” said Yue, sounding distraught.

“Yeah, that‘s tough to follow,” agreed Sokka.

“The ironic part is, I’m certain he was first so there wasn’t any argument, because no one wants to claim that the Avatar--who is also the _last of his people_ \--doesn’t deserve to go first,” said Yue. “And it would have been better if he went last, because I wasn’t listening to a thing anyone afterwards said to me.”

“You knew it was sincere advice, not just words that sounded good,” said Suki, nodding.

“Precisely.”

“It was…impactful,” put in Zuko.

Yue blinked rapidly, and Suki took her hand.

Yue was delighted to see the stalls, picking up every other item for sale and turning them over in her hands. Zuko was less visibly eager, but still wholeheartedly devoted to his shopping, and Suki and Sokka just stood back and watched them.

Most of the festival games had been packed up, but the test of strength was still there, though it was being minded by someone different.

“C’mon, Zuko, try your strength,” coaxed Sokka. “We both did it earlier!”

Zuko handed over a coin, took a stance and raised the hammer above his head. He stared for a second at the platform, then brought the hammer down with a _twist_ of his hips.

The ball raced up and hit the bell with a _clang_. Sokka whooped loudly.

“Will you look at that!”

“Neither of us pulled that off,” Suki told Yue. “So that’s a hard act to follow, but you wanna try anyway?”

“This isn’t a game for _girls_ ,” said the game master, turning his nose up. “Go try the turtleduck pond.”

“Turtleduck pond?” said Zuko, looking interested.

“Oh, it isn’t a girls’ game?” said Suki, storming over and taking the hammer from Zuko. “Give me that.” She took a stance, angled her body in the opposite direction, then pivoted on both feet at once as she brought the hammer down.

_Clang._

“Eat snow, dirtbag!” hollered Sokka. Zuko grabbed his wrist and dragged him away.

“Do you _want_ to get in a fight? ‘Cause I can take that guy, but I don’t want to have to explain any bruises to my uncle.”

“ _Fine._ ”

They watched from a distance as Yue paid and tried the game. She didn’t win, but she did take down her hood, revealing her identity, and demand prizes for Zuko and Suki. The change in the game master was immediate.

“Anything you like, Your Highness,” he told her, bowing. “Anything you like.”

Suki picked out a stuffed polar bear dog, and Zuko walked back over to pick out a turtleduck. Sokka stayed put, content with the win.

“What’s the turtleduck pond?” Zuko asked, cuddling his stuffed one. It was too adorable.

“Oh, it’s just a bunch of cork turtleducks floating in a pond of water. You pick three and turn them over, and if it’s a high enough number, you get a prize. I have my doubts there are any numbers over twenty.”

“Oh,” said Zuko, looking disappointed. “Guess it’s kind of cold for real turtleducks.”

“Kind of.” He wanted to hang out at a real turtleduck pond? What was Sokka supposed to do with this dude? That was the cutest thing he’d ever heard.

They visited all the vendors and games that were still there, talking all the while, and then trudged back up to the palace. Suki and Yue went off to work some magic getting past the guards again, and Sokka woke up Katara to follow him outside and fix Zuko’s wall.

“Only because I want to avoid an international incident,” grumbled Katara. “Next time, you and your boyfriend can find another way to sneak off and make out.”

“We’re not—it wasn’t—Katara!” spluttered Sokka. He knew she was only trying to wind him up, because she was his sister and it was her sworn duty, but he still fell for it every time.

Not that he had anything against making out with Zuko! Wait, no. He wasn’t offended by the concept, that was what he meant. Sokka knew some people in the Fire Nation had a problem with same-sex couples, but _he_ didn’t. It was just the principle of the thing. He wasn’t dating Zuko. Perhaps he should be offended on Zuko’s behalf? It wouldn’t look very good for him to be associated with rumors of dating Sokka. But there was nothing _wrong_ with it.

Self-aware enough to wonder why he was fixated on this, Sokka nevertheless fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

The next day was ostensibly free time, at least until the ball that evening, but Yue was still expected to spend at least part of it with Zuko, so she opted to give him a tour of the palace, Sokka and Suki trailing dutifully along behind. Then, thankfully, Hahn arrived to take Zuko ice fishing. Yue needed a break.

She sent Suki and Sokka off to entertain themselves, and took the afternoon to recharge. She’d already had more than enough interaction with people for one week. She practiced her haiku and calligraphy, and painted, and reread a favorite old story. It was glorious.

She felt ready to be a person again by the time she had to change clothes for the ball and let the servants in to do her hair and makeup.

They escorted Yue from her quarters, and Suki met her in the common area to escort her to the ball. Yue honestly almost didn’t recognize her. She had taken off her white makeup and armor and was wearing a stunning ruby-colored dress. It ought to have clashed with her hair, but it didn’t somehow. Yue’s heart stuttered in her chest.

“You’re very pretty,” she managed.

“So are you,” said Suki, looking her up and down appreciatively, excitement coloring her cheeks.

“Thank you,” said Yue, and had to look away as a small smile tugged at her lips. Suki took her arm, and they went in.

“Princess Yue!” announced Council Member Karlaq, and the room cheered.

As planned, they went straight to the front of the hall, where Sokka and Zuko were waiting, as well as her father and Fire Lord Iroh.

Yue let go of Suki and bowed to Zuko, who returned it. The music started, and Zuko offered his arm. Yue took it, and they walked to the middle of the floor. Yue put her spare hand on his shoulder, Zuko wrapped an arm around her waist, and they began to dance.

“You look lovely tonight,” said Zuko.

“Thank you. You look very handsome yourself. How was ice fishing today?”

“Fine. Cold. I didn’t catch anything, but Hahn said it was the experience that mattered,” he said ruefully. Yue laughed.

They drifted back into silence. It was nothing like talking to Suki, which was _easy._ Zuko had been perfectly nice, but Yue couldn’t help thinking their personalities seemed rather mismatched. She could foresee them spending decades waiting for the other to speak first.

“What are you looking for in this marriage, besides the political match?” asked Zuko suddenly. “Personally. What are you hoping this will be?”

Yue blinked, startled. “I didn’t really have expectations. I’ve been trying not to think about it too hard, to be perfectly honest.”

“That’s fair,” said Zuko.

“I suppose I hoped you would be nice. That we could be friends.”

Zuko smiled slightly. “Friends. Yeah.” The smile faded. “You really weren’t hoping for…more than that?”

“It’s an arranged marriage. I’m not expecting love.”

“Not just that…” He looked around at their fellow guests and sighed. “Can we talk alone?”

Yue stared at him. “If we’re alone together…I don’t want to think about what that’ll do to the validity of the betrothal contract. We need to at least have Sokka and Suki with us.”

“Is there somewhere we could go where they could still see us, but be far enough away we could talk privately? Training grounds of some sort, maybe?”

Yue considered. “Yes, that could work. Tomorrow.”

“Where did you find them, anyway? I expected to be spending the month getting shadowed by one of my guards and I was not looking forward to that.”

Yue laughed. “Sokka’s an old friend. And Suki is a friend of his. She had no reason to do me a favor, but she volunteered to avoid exactly what you’re describing.”

“You’d never met her before? Wow. That was nice of her.”

“She’s so kind. I like her immensely. I hope the four of us will stay friends.”

“Absolutely. We’ll have to stay in touch. I never met someone willing to break me out of a palace to go to a festival before.”

They talked Sokka and Suki into the plan with little trouble. Yue and Zuko sat down at one end of the training field, and Suki and Sokka hung out at the other and chatted, vaguely keeping an eye on the betrothed couple.

“What did you want to talk about?” asked Yue. Zuko sighed and rubbed his face.

“This is harder than I expected it to be,” he groaned.

She reached out and tentatively touched his hand.

“I’m not attracted to women,” Zuko blurted out.

_Oh._

She squeezed his hand.

“I knew I could never fall in love with you, but I didn’t think it mattered since it’s an arranged marriage anyway and you wouldn’t be expecting it, but then I met you, and I like you a lot, and, I don’t know. It felt like a betrayal that you didn’t know.”

“Thank you for telling me.”

“You don’t mind?”

“It’s a beautiful thing, in the water tribes. We say people like you have the spirits of both Tui and La.”

He couldn’t hold back a small, pleased smile.

“It was illegal in the Fire Nation, until recently.”

“Is that why you’re being asked to marry a woman?”

The smile slipped off his face. “I will do my duty to my country, regardless of personal inconvenience. To do otherwise would be dishonorable.”

“I’m sorry,” said Yue quickly. “I didn’t mean to offend. I only wondered why you weren’t matched with a man.”

His face was a picture. “A _political_ match?”

“Why not?”

“That’s—that’s ridiculous!”

Yue didn’t feel like arguing the point, so she shrugged. “It’s neither here nor there. Let us speak no more of it.”

Zuko nodded. “Thank you.” He stood up, and offered her a hand. As Yue took it, something occurred to her.

“You don’t dishonor me.”

He stopped and stared at her, eyes wide, and suddenly looked very young.

“ _Thank you,_ ” he said again, but this time with such heartfelt sincerity, Yue felt as though she’d saved one of his loved ones from certain death, and she could only nod.

By mutual, silent agreement, they began to walk back toward the others.

“If you meet someone that you wish to see outside the marriage, I would be all right with that,” Yue said after a moment.

Zuko looked at her very intensely. “Thank you,” he said a third time, and seemed to notice it, laughing a little. “For your consideration. I extend the same courtesy, of course.” She nodded, and they lapsed into silence again as they approached the others.

“You want to do some swordbending now, Prince Jerkbender?” said Sokka, gesturing with a flourish to the sword on Zuko’s belt.

“Ugh,” groaned Zuko, flushing red. “Are you ever going to let that go?”

“Not even when we’re old and grey,” said Sokka. “C’mon.”

They started with stances. Sokka’s heart was beating really hard for some reason, as though he were super nervous, and he couldn’t account for it at all. It only got worse every time Zuko touched him--a foot against his instep to scoot his stance wider, a hand on his shoulder to draw it back. They weren’t even intimate touches, but they _felt_ like it.

“You can borrow one of my dao,” Zuko told him, and separated his sword into two. “They’re supposed to be used together, but I didn’t want to go ask Chief Arnook if I could borrow some of his weapons, especially when I can’t swear they’ll come back without dents.”

“There’s got to be practice swords lying around the armory. Let’s ask Yue, she’ll know who to ask. But this will work for now.”

If it was intimate having Zuko move his body into position, it was so much more so to take his weapon in hand as Zuko showed him how to move.

They shedded their anoraks as they started to work up a sweat. Zuko started to take off his gloves, too, and Sokka grabbed his wrist.

“Hey, just because you feel warm doesn’t mean you can’t still get frostbite.”

“I’m a firebender,” said Zuko. “I can keep my extremities warm. I don’t even really need the anorak, but I’m less tired at the end of the day if I wear it.”

“Huh,” said Sokka, face inexplicably warm. “That’s cool.”

“I’m not cool, I’m hot,” said Zuko, grinning at him and lighting a flame in one hand.

_Oh no, he’s dorky too._

“Uh, yep! That is true!”

Zuko blinked at him, the smile slipping off his face, and Sokka realized belatedly that he just called him hot.

“You know. Because you’re a firebender.”

 _Stop talking already,_ Sokka told himself. _Don’t explain his own puns to him._

“You’re _good_ ,” Zuko tells him when they stop for the day, both pouring with sweat.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. You learn really fast.”

Sokka preened a little. Zuko patted him awkwardly on the shoulder, and Sokka’s heart did a somersault.

 _Oh no._ The pieces fell into place.

Sokka could be oblivious, but he knew what a crush felt like.

“Again tomorrow?” Zuko smiled hopefully.

“Sure!”

...He was in _so_ much trouble.

With what he thought was an absolutely masterful example of self-control, Sokka managed to mostly focus on the actual swordbending the next day. (It helped that Zuko was done with the part that required actual physical contact.) Yue had come through with practice swords, and she and Suki sat a little ways away, ostensibly hanging out with them but actually just talking. Sokka would have felt guilty, but they looked very engrossed in their conversation.

“This one’s a little heavier, so you can’t really whip it through the air like you can mine,” Zuko was saying.

“ _Whip_ it? Is that a technical term?”

“No, it’s just easiest to explain without—you’re terrible,” Zuko finished when Sokka let his face split in a giant, amused grin. Sokka cackled.

“Lies and slander. I’m awesome.”

“Yeah, whatever,” said Zuko. “ _Anyway._ You have to cut down on extraneous motion with this kind.” They played around with it for a bit, Zuko making small changes to things they’d done yesterday and adding some new moves.

“Spar?” Zuko offered finally. Sokka nodded. They’d long since ditched their anoraks, so they just set up a pace apart. “So you need to use less force, and turn your wrist so you’re aiming with the flat of the blade, in case you do get a shot in.”

Sokka nodded, and at a word from Zuko, they were off.

They were both moving more slowly than Sokka knew they could, testing out the waters, figuring out how the other moved. Slowly, they built up speed. Sokka remembered to pull back on his force as his speed went up, and Zuko nodded as their blades connected.

Zuko won eventually by his own rules, the flat of his blade pressed against Sokka’s side, where it definitely would have taken him down had it been the edge at speed.

“I’ll beat you eventually,”’ Sokka promised him, accidentally committing himself to _more_ of this. “And I have to teach you how to use a boomerang!” he added.

“ _I_ want to learn the boomerang,” said Suki. “You should try it too, Yue.”

“Okay,” said Yue, and looked surprised at herself.

“Yeah, okay, I’ll see what I can dig up,” said Sokka.

After the royal couple were safely returned to their rooms, he went back to the stash the Tribe had brought to sell at the festival and turned up three extra boomerangs. That reminded him that he still hadn’t given Zuko the dagger. He’d do that at boomerang practice.

He talked Katara into building them some ice walls to bounce off of before she ran off to waterbending lessons, and set his row of pupils in a line to practice a single bounce. He demonstrated first, flinging the boomerang directly at the wall and catching it again.

Sokka was not above standing too close behind Zuko and wrapping an arm over his to demonstrate the proper throwing angle.

Suki and Zuko both picked that up fairly quickly and practiced while Sokka helped Yue.

“Okay,” he said when he was satisfied. “Let’s practice how to knock someone out!”

This was a matter of tossing the boomerang at a subtle angle so it would miss an opponent but hit on the way back. “And hopefully bounce off _them_ and come back to your hand, but that’s hard,” Sokka explained.

He set up a torch with a melon balanced on top of it and had his pupils take turns. He was very glad he’d decided to do that when he had to leap to catch Yue’s boomerang before it knocked Zuko out.

“I’m so sorry!” she exclaimed, hands over her mouth.

“No fire, no foul,” he said, giving her a crooked grin.

“That’s what I’m here for!” said Sokka, handing the boomerang back to her. “Try a smaller angle.”

Yue looked unsure, and Suki came up behind her to help her sight. Theoretically Sokka really ought to be doing that, but surely it was breaking some rule to plaster himself up against the princess like that. Besides, Zuko might not like it.

Because she was his fiancée. That was all.

Sokka carefully didn’t interrogate that thought. Anyway, Suki looked perfectly at home.

Their lesson broke up for the day when Katara stormed over.

“Whoa, what’s with the sour face?” Sokka asked when he saw the stormcloud.

“Master Pakku won’t _teach_ me!” she shouted. “Because I’m a _girl!_ ”

“You wanted to learn _combat_ waterbending?” said Yue, putting a hand to her mouth. “I wish I’d realized. I would have warned you. We don’t teach combat waterbending to women here. They learn healing. Men learn combat.”

“But that’s stupid!” said Katara, angry tears streaming down her face.

“It’s just the way things are done here,” said Yue helplessly.

“It _is_ stupid,” said Suki, going over to hug Katara. “And it sucks. What if someone is injured and there are no women around? What if someone attacks and there are no men?” 

“Exactly!”

“Suki. What are you planning?” Yue hung in the doorway to her bedroom, fretting.

“I’m not sure yet. But Katara deserves better than this. I’ve known her for years, and this is all she’s ever wanted.”

“Why does it have to be like this? Can’t Katara learn from someone else if it’s so important to her?”

“There aren’t any waterbending masters in the South. Just one or two amateurs like Katara. The North has sent down some resources and people to help rebuild, but not that. The only other waterbending master we know of is the Avatar and he’s already left.”

“Why can’t she just learn healing waterbending like the rest of the women?” Yue was starting to get just faintly angry now.

“She shouldn’t have to!” Suki spun around and folded her arms. “Look, Yue, I like you a lot, but this is bigger than Katara and Pakku. It’s a symptom of systemic inequality and we owe it to everyone to make a difference if we can.”

“It’s—it’s not like that!”

“How, exactly, is it not like that?”

“It wasn’t so long ago that the chieftainship would have passed to my husband, not to me! And it’s not as though women are forbidden to learn combat waterbending. It’s just not done. It’s not women’s work.”

“Just like that stupid game we played at the festival?” Suki’s eyes were hard. “And does it matter if it’s illegal if there’s only one combat master and he won’t teach women?”

“What are we supposed to do, force him?”

“Yes!” Suki huffed a sigh. “No, you’re right, that wouldn’t be enough. He has to want to. Otherwise he’ll just give the women a worse education and it’ll be even harder to point out the sexism. Look, I don’t want to argue with you anymore. I’ll see you later.”

And she left.

Yue tried to lose herself in calligraphy, or reading, but it was no use. Her mind was whirling on her conversation with Suki. She eventually gave up and paced the room.

She didn’t like Suki being mad at her. It made a little sick feeling curl up in the pit of her stomach.

Hours passed, and Yue eventually managed to stop pacing and sit down and paint. She couldn’t actually think about something new, though, so she painted Suki.

She had finished two portraits of her--one as she’d looked earlier, with her brow furrowed and her mouth set, and one as she’d looked at the ball, smiling--when a servant knocked on the doorframe.

“Princess Yue, there is an emergency council meeting, and your presence is requested.”

She followed the servant to the meeting hall, which was fuller than usual. All of the council were there, headed by her father, but so was the entire council of the Southern Tribe, Katara, Suki, and Pakku.

“The fact is that there’s a way things are done here, and this isn’t it!” said Council Member Karlaq shrilly.

“More to the point, we are in the middle of a _wedding_ celebration, specifically to promote international unity,” said Arnook. “If this escalates any further, we shall be in the midst of an international _incident._ ”

“Katara, I understand where you’re coming from,” said Chief Hakoda kindly. “But is now the time?”

Suki looked outraged, hands balling into fists.

“You’re right,” said Katara defeatedly.

“I suspect if you apologize to Master Pakku, all will be forgotten,” suggested Arnook.

“Fine,” said Katara, crossing her arms and glaring at the wall.

“I’m waiting, little girl,” said Master Pakku contemptuously.

“No!” said Katara suddenly. Cracks began to appear in the floor. “No way am I apologizing to a sour old man like you!” A pot of water froze and shattered. “I’ll be outside if you’re man enough to fight me!” She stormed out.

“I’m sure she didn’t mean that,” said Hakoda, attempting to keep the peace.

“Pretty sure she did,” said Sokka, who Yue hadn't noticed.

They filed slowly out of the building to find Katara and Master Pakku already engaged in all-out warfare. He built an ice wall, and she slid up and over it. He built another, and she liquefied it. He threw her into a pool, and she created a pillar of ice and began flinging razor-sharp discs off the top of it toward him.

“Wow,” said Suki, who had ended up behind Yue. “She’s just straight up trying to kill him.”

“Well, I’m impressed,” said Master Pakku. “You are an excellent waterbender.”

“But you still won’t teach me, will you?”

“No.”

Katara sent a thick stream of water at Master Pakku, who avoided it and sent one back at her, knocking her down. He created a cloud of ice daggers, which rained down at Katara. Yue clapped her hands over her mouth before she could scream, but none of them hurt her. Instead, they pinned her to the ground, and Pakku turned around and began to walk away, calling, “The fight is over,” as he went.

Anger flooded Yue. All that, and he was still treating Katara as though she wasn’t worth his time.

But Pakku was examining something on the ground. Katara’s necklace. It must have fallen off. Yue’s hand went to her own neck in sympathetic horror.

“This is my necklace,” he said, confused.

“No, it’s not!” said Katara. “It’s mine! Give it back!”

“I made this sixty years ago for the love of my life,” said Pakku. “For Kanna.”

“My Gran-Gran was supposed to marry you?”

“I carved this necklace for your grandmother when we got engaged. I thought we would have a long, happy life together. I loved her.”

“But she didn’t love you, did she? It was an arranged marriage. Gran-Gran wouldn’t let your tribe’s stupid customs run her life. That’s why she left. It must have taken a lot of courage.”

The words hit Yue like a wave, for reasons she didn’t understand, and suddenly she had to be anywhere but there. She squeezed her way through the crowd and speed-walked back to her room.

Suki found her there only minutes later.

“Hey. What’s up?”

“I don’t know,” said Yue truthfully. “I feel…a lot.”

“That’s okay,” said Suki, and sat down to put an arm around her. Yue leaned against her, glad Suki seemed to have forgiven her, at least. “Why don’t we stay in tomorrow? Surely you can take one day away from Zuko. Or he and Sokka can take a day off weapons training and we can sit in the library or something.”

“I’d like that,” said Yue, and rested her head on Suki’s shoulder.

Yue and Suki weren’t there when Sokka and Zuko met at the training grounds the next day, so they opted to go back to swords.

Even just two days later, there was a noticeable difference. They were more comfortable with each other, more fluid, less hesitant. A stark naked joy rose up in Sokka’s throat at the thrill of it as they got faster and more daring, pulling out trickier moves. When was the last time he’d had this much fun? Sure, there were the guys back home, but there was always this separation that he hadn’t entirely noticed until it was gone with Zuko. He was grinning when Zuko won their first match, and when they started again after a short break, right up until Zuko turned his sword just a little too quickly, and bright pain flared across his face.

“ _Ouch!”_

“Sokka!” Zuko dropped his sword and crossed the distance between them in a second to take Sokka’s face in his hands and examine the cut on his cheek. His hands were warm, and Sokka’s breath caught in his throat. Zuko pulled the sash from his tunic and pressed the cloth against Sokka’s face. The smell of him filled Sokka’s nose.

“It doesn’t look too bad,” he assured Sokka. “Face wounds bleed a lot. I’m so sorry, I should have been more careful.”

“It’s fine,” said Sokka. “And—and Katara can fix it.” He tried to take a step backward, but Zuko followed him.

“It doesn’t have to be fine. I hurt you!”

“No, really.” He pushed against Zuko’s arm. Zuko took his hand away, but gave Sokka polar dog eyes instead, and that was almost worse. Sokka successfully stepped away this time, and the eyes got worse as Zuko tilted his head.

“Let me stop the bleeding, at least. I feel terrible.”

“Zuko. It’s literally just a scratch. It’s fine.”

“Then why are you acting weird?”

“Because you’re standing so close!”

Zuko flinched and took his own step away.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

Sokka sighed, dropping his own sword.

“It’s not your fault.”

“I, uh. I just thought we were close enough friends that it wouldn’t matter.” Zuko stared at some point to the left of Sokka’s knees. Sokka felt like an asshole.

“It’s just that I really want to kiss you and I absolutely cannot do that and when you’re standing that close it’s really hard not to!” he blurted in a rush. Zuko met his eyes again suddenly, and Sokka couldn’t read his expression at all.

“You can.”

“I—what?”

He…could not have heard Zuko right.

“You can. Yue and I talked.” Zuko was standing right in front of him again now, gold eyes burning with _something_ and Sokka was sure there were reasons other than “cheating” that he really shouldn’t kiss Zuko, but absolutely none of them were coming to mind.

So Sokka kissed him.

Ice-shattering, that might be a good word to describe it. Zuko was warm where he pressed his lips to Sokka’s and where his fingers brushed over Sokka’s uninjured cheek to cradle his face and angle it better. His other hand came up to press against the small of Sokka’s back, pulling him close, and Sokka melted. He wrapped his arms around Zuko’s neck and breathed him in and kissed him and _kissed_ him.

Eventually they pulled apart, and Sokka leaned his forehead against Zuko’s, panting slightly.

“We probably can’t tell anyone,” muttered Zuko. “Yue and I agreed we could see other people outside the marriage, but we are still _engaged._ It might cause diplomatic problems if people knew.”

“Yue can, though, right? And Suki. It wouldn’t be fair to keep it from her.”

“Yeah. That’s fine. Maybe Uncle at some point? And your sister? If it, uh. Stays. Y’know.”

“If it lasts,” Sokka murmured.

“Yeah.”

The thought drifted across Sokka’s mind that they had literally just kissed for the first time, and hadn’t discussed, like, _feelings_ at _all,_ but here they were making plans for the possibility of being together longer-term.

Whatever that meant. Zuko might mean a couple of weeks, or months, or years.

Years. He _had_ to stop thinking about this.

Sokka kissed him again to shut his own brain off.

Somehow they continued to not talk about feelings. Somehow they managed to not talk about feelings for literal weeks.

Sokka dragged Suki into his room later that first night to tell her everything, trying to ignore how much like a girl it made him feel. Suki would ask why it was a problem to be a girl, and then why emotions were associated with femininity, and they didn’t need to get into all that.

“So Zuko and I kissed,” he blurted out. She blinked.

“Well, I don’t know what I was expecting you to say, but that wasn’t it. I know they’re not in love, but isn’t that kind of…”

“Apparently they talked about it,” said Sokka.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, they have an agreement about seeing people outside the marriage, we just have to keep it quiet.”

“Huh.” Suki looked thoughtful.

Presumably Suki told Yue, because she gave them an absolutely devilish smile next time he was standing too close to Zuko showing them boomerang tricks. Sokka flushed and took a step away to a more appropriate distance.

And for literal weeks, it was like this: Zuko rested his hand on Sokka’s shoulder and Sokka’s heart vibrated in his chest. Sokka gave Zuko his best smirk over a plate of fish and Zuko turned red. Zuko got half decent at the boomerang, and Sokka about burst with pride. Sokka managed to beat Zuko in sparring for the first time, and Zuko’s eyes were so wide and his pupils so huge Sokka could practically see his reflection. And every night Sokka walked Zuko back to his room and followed him inside and they kissed and talked and kissed some more, sometimes for hours, and Sokka tried to ignore how big and bright those _feelings_ were getting, and told himself the name for them that snuck into his thoughts when he wasn’t paying attention was the wrong one.

They were trying not to ignore the girls, but it was just so _easy_ to get lost in Zuko’s eyes and his beauty and his puns. And Yue didn’t seem to mind—every time Sokka looked over, feeling slightly guilty for monopolizing her fiancé’s time, she was cuddled up with Suki, deep in conversation, sometimes with her head resting on Suki’s shoulder, or else gazing into her eyes.

Once, Yue and Zuko had to attend a council meeting together, and Sokka took the opportunity to gush about Zuko to Suki.

“It’s not just that he’s cute—and he is, he’s so cute—but he’s also hilarious and dorky and kind and passionate and I can’t handle it!” He flung his hands in the air, and Suki laughed at him.

They all went to watch Katara get her waterbending mastery a little over a month into her training. She beat every class with aplomb, and Yue was extremely proud, especially considering Katara wasn’t _her_ sister, or even a particularly close friend.

Master Pakku pronounced her “Sifu Katara,” and everyone clapped. Sokka was doing a very bad job of pretending he wasn’t just as proud as Yue.

Suki had told her what had happened after she left, how Pakku was teaching Katara as a particular favor to her grandmother, and it made something small and uncomfortable form in Yue’s throat as she watched them.

Without really knowing what she was going to do, she strode over the training ground to clasp Katara’s hands.

“Congratulations, Sifu Katara. That was an exceptional display.”

“Thank you!” said Katara, grinning happily.

“You must be very proud,” said Yue to Pakku.

“She is a prodigy,” said Pakku modestly, which was exactly what Yue had known he would say.

“Indeed. One of the finest waterbenders I have ever seen, although I will admit I am young.”

“I am not, and I must concur,” said Pakku. “She will be one in a generation.”

“I think,” said Yue, throat very dry, “that this is all the proof we could ask for that women should be allowed to learn combat waterbending if they wish. Who knows what talents could be hidden amongst our own waterbenders?”

Pakku started to say something, then stopped. He tried again, and stopped a second time. Yue inclined her head, dropped Katara’s hands, and swept away as regally as she knew how before he could come up with a rebuttal.

Suki fell in behind her as she walked, but said nothing. They walked all the way back to Yue’s rooms. Yue bypassed the front room and sat down on her bed.

“That was amazing,” said Suki. Her voice sounded a little shaky, and Yue turned to look at her. She was very close, almost starting to go fuzzy at the edges, and Yue’s breath caught. Maybe there was something wrong with her, because her chest and throat were tight, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. Suki’s eyes froze her in place.

“Tell me if I’m misreading this,” said Suki, and brushed her fingers lightly over Yue’s cheek, drawing her even closer. Yue’s heart pounded in her chest. Part of her wanted to say “yes, you are, this can’t be, on so many levels,” but the larger part her screamed at her to let Suki do whatever she wanted, to keep making this feeling in her chest and her throat happen, for _more,_ even as no part of her brain dared to name what it was she wanted Suki to do.

Suki kissed her, and Yue stopped breathing.

It was sunshine on her face, it was the biting fresh cold of a new snow, it was a humming in her fingertips and toes and a complete lack of the need for air.

Suki pulled away, and Yue followed her without thinking. They toppled over gently, and Yue found her hands framing Suki’s face even as she settled on top of Suki. Suki’s hand had migrated to wind its way into her hair and tugged her close.

“I love you,” whispered Suki.

_Oh._

So that’s what the feeling was. The warmth in her heart. The flutterbugs and the smiling and all of it. It made sense, so much sense that Yue said “I love you too,” without hesitation.

“And then she just—” Sokka punched an imaginary opponent, mimicking Katara. “And then—” He swung both arms high in an arc, hoping Zuko was seeing the wave he was imagining. “I just can’t believe it!” he finished, and finally turned to actually look at Zuko, who was leaning against the side of a building and just staring at him, smiling affectionately. “What?”

“I just love you,” said Zuko, and his face did something complicated, finally falling. Zuko scrubbed his hands over his face and let out an “Ugh!”

“You what?” said Sokka, slightly in shock.

“I _love_ you,” said Zuko, in tones of great dismay. “That wasn’t supposed to happen.” He flopped down to sit in the snow, and then laid down in it, still covering his face.

“Oh, good,” said Sokka as a wave of relief overcame him and he plopped down in the snow beside Zuko. “I thought it was just me.”

Zuko peeked out from under his arm at Sokka.

“I’m _engaged to someone else,_ Sokka, or have you forgotten? Why are you smiling like that?”

Sokka shrugged, unable to wipe the grin off. “I love you. You love me back. I’m happy.”

What little he could see of Zuko’s face softened, and he sat up to tug Sokka into a brief, sweet kiss, after glancing around to be certain they were alone.

“This isn’t sustainable at all,” he sighed, draping himself over Sokka’s lap. “I’m getting married in, what, a week?”

“We should talk to Yue and Suki,” said Sokka practically. “They’re way smarter than us.”

“Speak for yourself,” said Zuko, a little crossly. “You’re probably right, though.”

He stood up and offered his hand to Sokka. Sokka took it, and Zuko tugged him to his feet.

“Where do you think they are?”

“I would have said _here_ ,” said Sokka, frowning. “But they obviously aren’t, so—Yue’s room?”

They made their way through the palace, and Sokka was aware for every second of it that he _wasn’t_ holding Zuko’s hand but he _could_ be, if he only reached over three inches.

The guards outside Yue’s quarters let them push the drape aside and walk through, so Sokka was fully expecting to find Yue there. What he was not expecting was to find her in the bedroom, spread out on top of Suki, cheeks flushed and hair slightly askew.

“Uh,” said Sokka. Yue and Suki sat up, and Suki beckoned them closer.

“We’re in love,” she said, eyes sparkling, and Sokka couldn’t remember ever having heard her sound so _happy._ “We’re in love, are you in love?”

“What?” said Yue and Zuko together.

“Yeah,” said Sokka, and they grinned at each other stupidly. “Yeah, we are.”

Suki turned back to Yue and caught up both her hands, pulling them into her own chest. “Marry me instead,” she said.

Everybody else’s mouths dropped open.

“I— _can_ I?” said Yue.

“I’ve been thinking about this,” said Suki, “and I think it could work.”

Yue’s mouth was as dry as paper as she bowed.

“Father,” she said, keeping her eyes downturned. “Thank you for seeing us.”

“Is there some issue, daughter?” said her father, and Yue didn’t think anyone else could hear the steel in his voice, the implied _there better not be,_ but she could.

“We think we have come to an arrangement that would suit everyone better than, than the current one,” she answered, swallowing hard.

“Yue, do I honestly need to remind you how important this match is?” said her father, and everyone could surely hear the disappointment now. “Your duty is to your country.”

“We will not dishonor you, sir,” said Zuko, coming to stand beside her. “We would never have brought it up if we didn’t think there was a better way for everyone involved.”

“What harm can there be in hearing them out?” said Fire Lord Iroh. “What do you propose, Prince Zuko?”

Zuko raised his chin stubbornly. “I am in love with Prince Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe,” he answered.

“And I am in love with Lady Suki of the elite Kyoshi Warriors,” said Yue. Her voice shook, but she got the whole sentence out.

“It’s still an international match that shows the devotion of the Fire Nation to lasting peace with the other nations,” said Zuko.

“I won’t deny that a love match is a much stronger bond than a merely political one,” said Fire Lord Iroh. “But I don’t wish to slight our Northern neighbors.”

Yue’s father stood up from his chair and came around the council table to stand in front of her. Yue couldn’t meet his eyes until he cupped her face with both hands and tilted it back. There was nothing but pride in his face.

“My Yue?” he said softly. “Loves a woman?” She nodded. Arnook blurred before her as her eyes filled with tears.

“Yes, Father.”

Arnook smiled gently. “Fire Lord Iroh, we are not slighted. It is a great joy, to have such a child, in the Water Tribes.” He didn’t look away from Yue as he spoke. “To have one in charge of leading the people...it promises an era of great prosperity to come.”

“It is not so in most of the Fire Nation,” said Iroh. “But I would like nothing more than to see my nephew happy in his role as peacemaker. And I rather think, if the Earth Kingdom and the Water Tribes are pleased by the match, the opinions of the least accepting of the Fire Nation’s people are not a priority here.”

“The bond Prince Zuko and I have formed will not be forgotten,” promised Yue.

“Well then,” said Chief Arnook, “I suppose we are overdue for a conversation with Chief Hakoda and Queen Gyore.”

“Sokka’s waiting outside to fetch them,” said Zuko, his determined expression softening into a smile. “I’ll get him.”

The adults were fetched, and the children summarily shooed out.

“So did you tell your uncle I was a prince?” asked Sokka, who didn’t seem to know if he should be smug or disgruntled. Zuko shrugged unrepentantly.

“It’s close enough to true, and it sounds better.”

It was a very short conversation. In no time at all they were called back into the room.

Chief Arnook did not beat about the bush.

“Your request is granted, children. May you be very happy.” Yue felt Suki’s hand slip into hers, and she spotted Sokka and Zuko sharing a grin in her peripheral.

“Thank you, Father. And thank you, Fire Lord Iroh, for your understanding. Queen Gyore, Chief Hakoda, for your flexibility.”

“Oh, don’t thank me, child!” chortled Queen Gyore, even as the others echoed her thanks. “Who says ‘no’ when a princess asks for one of their warriors’ hands in marriage?”

Chief Hakoda gathered Sokka in a hug, and released him only to clasp Zuko’s forearm. Zuko bowed briefly in the Fire Nation style.

“I am slightly concerned about the betrothal customs,” admitted Chief Arnook. “I’m certain we can come to an agreement, but if we could just discuss that for a moment?”

Yue reached behind her neck and unclasped her betrothal necklace, handing it back to Zuko with a smile. He accepted it, smiling back wordlessly, and dropped it into his pocket.

“Nobody’s got a replacement necklace, unless you kids have been planning this for longer than I thought,” said Chief Hakoda.

“I do have a gift, though!” said Suki unexpectedly.

“So do I!” yelped Sokka. “I kept meaning to give it to you before, but now I’m really glad I didn’t. We’ll be right back.”

“I was thinking we could go through the pile of engagement gifts and split them between us,” said Zuko to Yue, who nodded.

“That sounds reasonable. And we’ve certainly already had the period of getting to know one another, if a little out of order.”

“Is there any way we could push off the wedding a little?” said Chief Hakoda. “My mother will kill me if she isn’t here to see Sokka get married.”

“And the rest of the warriors will be very disappointed,” agreed Queen Gyore. “There are only a few left at home, but if we’re moving it anyway…”

“We can move it a few days,” agreed Chief Arnook. “Not too long, I think, for the convenience of the other guests. But if it’s only a few people, I dare say Avatar Aang would only be too happy to go and get them. It’s a much shorter trip, as the bison flies.”

“I’d hate to ask that of him,” started Chief Hakoda, but Arnook shook his head.

“The Avatar is a romantic at heart, and he loves to help out. Leave it to me.”

Sokka rushed back into the room, Suki hot on his heels.

“Zuko!” he said, coming to a stop before Zuko and opening his hands to reveal an ornate dagger. “Please accept this token as...um, a token of my commitment?” He peered over at Yue, who laughed and nodded. It was close enough.

“I accept it with a full heart,” said Zuko, a smile stretching his face. “Marry me, Sokka.”

“Please accept this token of my commitment,” said Suki from behind her, and Yue whirled around. Suki held a gorgeous mottled shell hair comb.

“I accept it with a full heart,” Yue answered, trying not to burst into happy tears. She bent so Suki could place it in her hair.

“Man, Katara is not going to believe this,” said Sokka.

“Especially when she finds out this whole thing is at least a third her fault,” giggled Suki.

“Yeah, we might not have gotten our act together in time if it wasn’t for her, huh? Wait, hang on, we never told you that.”

Yue started laughing, and lost her battle with the tears as Suki hugged her tight.

“It’s almost odd to be alone with you,” Yue said to Zuko, grinning.

“Betrothal contract’s really broken now,” he joked, and she laughed.

“How have you been holding up having to be chaperoned with Sokka?”

He made a face. “I _miss_ him. I see him every day, but it’s not the same.”

“I know what you mean.”

“You look lovely, by the way.”

Yue spun around quickly, showing off her colorful beaded coat. “Thank you! And you are very handsome.”

Zuko grinned and flourished one red sleeve, embroidered with shimmering gold dragons.

“Remember the last time we said that to one another?”

“What are you hoping this marriage to be, Prince Zuko?” Yue asked, mock sincerely.

“An international scandal, probably. But a good one.”

“Promise me we’ll always be friends.”

“I promise.” He reached for her hand and squeezed it briefly.

Music began to play just out of sight, and Yue’s heart started beating faster.

“Well,” said Zuko, “Let’s go get married, I guess.”

Suki and Sokka were waiting, Yue knew, even though she couldn’t see them.

“Let’s go get married.”


End file.
